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I read a certain part of Storm of Swords last night and it made me very depressed.
Before starting A Feast for Crows, I'll read A Cat's Cradle which I have heard very good and weird things about, as well as The Princess Bride. Which is one of those books/movies that everyone besides me seems to have read/seen.

I read a certain part of Storm of Swords last night and it made me very depressed.
Before starting A Feast for Crows, I'll read A Cat's Cradle which I have heard very good and weird things about, as well as The Princess Bride. Which is one of those books/movies that everyone besides me seems to have read/seen.

Labbes

If you're going to read AFFC you might want to read ADWD at the same time as the books essentially cover the same period, just from different viewpoints. There's a rather good recommended combined chapter reread guide here: -

If you're going to read AFFC you might want to read ADWD at the same time as the books essentially cover the same period, just from different viewpoints. There's a rather good recommended combined chapter reread guide here: -

I've heard good things about it from others. Plan to reread the books that way shortly to see if it make the narrative more cohesive.

I'm actually rereading the books (doesn't make certain events less depressing), but thanks for that reading order, I was looking for something like that. Should make AFFC and ADWD a bit more "fresh", I hope.

Watch the movie first. While the book is good, the movie is superlative.

I have seen some scenes from the film already, so I might do that. It also saves me time (which is a stupid reason, but well...).

I love how the one bad review for this is by someone who didn't read the synopsis first.
Seeing how expensive the book is, would you say it qualifies as "popular science" or is it written for people who study something in the field?

Man, I freaking loved the Richard Nixon half of this. The other half, the crazy ol' Uncle Sam circus thing, was good bit kinda wore me down by the end of it. I've been meaning to check out more Coover, so if this isn't your first what would you recommend?

I love how the one bad review for this is by someone who didn't read the synopsis first.
Seeing how expensive the book is, would you say it qualifies as "popular science" or is it written for people who study something in the field?

I'd say it serves fine as a generalist thesis for anthropologists and sociologists - something students should read and practitioners may read as part of their keeping up with prevailing ideas.

I tend to like tomes that work as theses. I strongly disagree with Jared Diamond, for instance, but appreciate his comprehensiveness. Likewise I like Daron Acemoglu and Pankaj Mishra.

Originally Posted by Angel Dust

Man, I freaking loved the Richard Nixon half of this. The other half, the crazy ol' Uncle Sam circus thing, was good bit kinda wore me down by the end of it. I've been meaning to check out more Coover, so if this isn't your first what would you recommend?

I think the Nixon's fantasy of lightness and darkness and the walking self-satire that Uncle Sam represented couldn't be done enough. Scathing is a good term.

I think his first two books are great. The man came out of the gates running, so in that sense I'd suggest The Origin of the Brunists and The Universal Baseball Association. Neither, however, are what I'd call light reading. Coover likes his books dense.

Last edited by Nalano; 28-06-2013 at 03:36 AM.

NalanoH. Wildmoon
Director of the Friends of Nalano PAC
Attorney at Lawl
"His lack of education is more than compensated for by his keenly developed moral bankruptcy." - Woody Allen

Bequin is the titular character of the third and (currently) final trilogy which Black Library seems to not at all be promoting.

Oh, fantastic. That's good to know. I'm trying to avoid spoilers as much as possible, so I'm not delving into wikis or even the BL page. It seems Pariah is out already (or is that just the first book?), so I'll have to grab it and let it sit under Ravenor for a bit.

I only knew the first one came out long after the fact. It is actually really strange since I would think they would be exploding with joy over another Abnett inquisitor series, but it is possible that Abnett has told them he is leaving (he DID have the epilepsy issues a year or two back and his Marvel and creator-owned careers really took off) so they are trying to focus on their other talent. In fact, come to think of it, they also barely promoted the latest Gaunt's Ghosts book. So yeah, pretty sure BL is pissed at him for something or another.

Shame. Hope he's doing well. I know he's regarded as one of the best, if not the best, writers for BL. Apparently there's all kinds of bureaucratic issues at BL concerning Abnett and other writers, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're pissed at him, but I know nothing about that stuff. I've heard only good things about Gaunt's Ghosts, however, so those are on the short list too.

Err, to answer you question: she is a presence in Ravenor, but she was really Gregor's love (her and Gideon were just friends), and Ravenor kind of has other stuff to deal with. It is unclear exactly how the Bequin/"Eisenhorn VS Raveor" trilogy is going to work, but the viewpoint character is a pariah who is referred to as Bequin, so yeah :p

Of the two existing trilogies, I prefer Eisenhorn conceptually (a good man being turned into a Renegade), but Ravenor has much better writing.

Ok, that's what I thought re: Bequin's presence/mentioning in Ravenor. Given that it's the grimdark future we're talking about, I doubt there's going to be an overly happy ending, but I just want the story wrapped up. Looking forward to Ravenor, especially if the writing is better (less campy combat dialogs, etc).

Ok, that's what I thought re: Bequin's presence/mentioning in Ravenor. Given that it's the grimdark future we're talking about, I doubt there's going to be an overly happy ending, but I just want the story wrapped up. Looking forward to Ravenor, especially if the writing is better (less campy combat dialogs, etc).

Ravenor probably counts as a grimdark book (it makes Eisenhorn look lighthearted), and there are SOME "witty" banters.

And the Gaunt's Ghosts series is great. Does a really good job about being an "anyone can die" book without feeling formulaic.

As for Metro 2033: About 60% of the way done. All in all, I am very much enjoying it, but the translation amazon sells on the Kindle is kind of weak. It isn't the worst, but it is definitely a half-assed translation, especially compared to something like the (non-CD Projekt) translation of The Witcher books or Sergei Lukyanko's (sp?) Night Watch series.

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If you want me on either service, I suggest PMing me here first to let me know who you are.

Tonight, I will be diving back into The Silmarillion. I left it a short way in, when one of the elf leaders became entranced by the well-known beauty of a lower-tier godling. (Melion? Melian? Ah! I know I was in or near the chapter "On (Of?) Thingol and Melian", at least.) They then made centuries-long love in a forest, leaving the elf's people to wonder where he went, or something to that effect. I love Tolkien's style (including even the pace of this one), but I really should read it sometime other than just-before-bed.

More interestingly for readers of newer books: The reason for my break from Tolkien was that I took the more travel-friendly Jam (by Yahtzee Croshaw) on a trip and wanted to finish that up since it's a relatively quick read. Since it looks like it hasn't been discussed here yet, I present my thoughts on it:

According to Yahtzee himself, "It's about an apocalypse -- with jam in it." This intrigued me, and I liked his previous book Mogworld quite a bit, so it sounded like a good bet. I found it largely enjoyable with a number of good laughs and even some interesting apocalypse-society ideas, but my biggest beef with it is that I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, except for one short-lived scientist. And while Jam's writing is similar in tone to Mogworld (the humor of both has much in common with Zero Punctuation), I prefer the latter, possibly because its silliness doesn't really have to contend with a pretense of reality. I don't like analyzing things to death, but I felt I should offer something, so there you go! In short, it was enjoyable and had many more than zero punctuations in it.

Finished listening to(are audiobooks aloud in this thread?) The Ocean at The End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Absolutly fantastic book, its actually one of his least fantastical being mostly about a 7 year old boy growing up, sure there is some fantasy with it which is fantastic but a lot of the charm is the boy living life and eating at the Hempstock's place. It got to me because I culd see myself in the main character since it was pretty much my childhood he was writing lol. The main villain is quite creepy and it does have lots of great images and themes its saying. Very recommended and I really wish we don't have to wait another 8 years for another of his adult books.

A Scanner Darkly, Phillip K. Dick - Meh. It's that train wreck one keeps staring at. A bit like a Palahunik novel only without Chuck's juvenile bullcrap and a good deal more hippie slang.

Scanner Darkly is fantastic. The way the character just slips into watching and reporting on himself without any sense of the crazy is great. Also I think his intent with the novel was pretty sincere. You have to read 'substance D' as a metaphor for drug culture as a whole (and also bear in mind it was written in the early 70s) and how it gradually consumes everyone involved in it.